Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an iron type golf club head, and in particular to a perimeter weighted, cavity back iron type golf club head having an improved weight distribution.
Iron type golf club heads are used to hit a golf ball specific distances to specific targets. The lofts of conventional irons range from a minimum of about 16 degrees for a one iron to approximately 60 degrees for a wedge type club. Conventional cavity back type golf clubs include a peripheral mass around at least a portion of the club head, and this peripheral mass defines the central cavity at the back of the club head.
Conventional club heads now being marketed are forged full-back clubs or investment casting cavity-back clubs. Most, if not all, of these clubs have a high toe and a face which progressively increases in height from the heel portion to the toe portion of the club head. Those clubs also are predominantly weighted in the sole. As shown in both the conventional full back forged type club illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and the conventional cavity-back club illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4, the toe of conventional clubs has its greatest thickness, measured from the face of the club rearwardly, at the sole and progressively decreases in thickness as it extends upwardly. As a result, the center of gravity (CG) in such clubs is biased toward the sole of the club. Various weight distributions for club heads have been proposed in the past to maximize the energy transfer or the control of a golf ball when it is struck by the club head. For example, the U.S. Pat. No. to Solheim (4,621,813) discloses golf clubs in which the trailing edge of the sole of a peripheral weighted club is inclined toward the face. The U.S. Pat. No. to Johnstone (3,059,926) discloses a set of clubs in which the center of gravity (CG) is located progressively farther from the toe of the club head as the number of the club increases. The U.S. Pat. No. to Sime (1,671,956) discloses a golf club having decreased thickness in the middle of the blade and increased thicknesses at the toe and heel of the blade. The U.S. Pat. No. to Sato (4,653,756) discloses a club which is designed to include aerodynamic wings in the top and sole portions of the club. These and other attempts, in the inventor's opinion, have not provided the optimum weight distribution and club head design.